Theme: First performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
The winner of the May puzzle is Jacqueline Corbett of Kent.
In the 3D Calendar year May normally brings a more challenging puzzle, as the relatively benign spring turns to summer, and this was no exception: a long quotation in a foreign language, a complex 10-word anagram and, to boot, a Frank Paul drawing to unravel as an integral part of the solution.
The 7x7x6 grid served the emerging theme well and the two anti-clockwise perimeter entries in Tiers 1 and 5 allowed Komorník to develop a rich set of clues with a minimum of serpents, no entries with fewer than six letters and just a few obscure words (INDITER, STRIGAE). Bravo for that! If I had one tiny criticism, it would be that some of the clueing lacked brevity: several clues were 14 words long and the clue to CATARRH topped the rankings with 17 words. The former Observer crossword compiler, Ximenes, author of The Art of the Crossword, might be stirring in his grave at that!
The mention of SCHILLER and hints to “Für Elise” in ELEGISE enhanced the Beethoven theme and many “musically” related clues struck a chord (sorry) with me: ENDIVE, ERUDITE, EXTANT (such a clever triplet), OBERON, DAUNTED. The clue to LAST EIGHT caused some head scratching (“All those preceding this one are quarter-finalists”) until it dawned that The Choral is, of course, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony — that is simply brilliant and my favourite clue of all.
Beethoven’s Choral Symphony is a wonderful piece of music; Ode to Joy is, of course, the anthem of the European Union and is twinged with some sadness, since, despite its optimistic message that “Alle Menschen werden Brüder,” it also evokes one of the country’s most divided days of recent years: 23 June 2016.
As a former modern languages teacher, I am always uneasy about entering foreign words without accents or umlauts; despite what has become a convention in English crosswords that diacritical marks are not required, some solvers may be familiar with one controversial Listener crossword some time ago where entries without a cedilla on a C in the grid were marked wrong. Fortunately, our excellent electronic marking system always provides reassurance that one’s submissions are correct.
By my calculation this is the third offering by Komorník in the last six months, including the November 2023 extra, and he is also responsible for the grid. Moreover, he used to write monthly reviews until the end of last calendar year, so this tour de force (or perhaps ‘Erfolg’ is more relevant on this occasion) on his part is an indication of just how much we owe him for his contribution to the 3D puzzle enterprise. Thank you, Komornik.
Eric presents Rachel Sheldon (Rikki) the trophy for 2023 3D World Champion
As many, but not all of you, will know, every year Bozzy (Nora) organises a lunch to celebrate the winners of the various competitions run as part of the 3D Crossword calendar. The two main presentations are for the 3D Crossword World Champion and for the winner of the RPM (Ray Parry-Morris) trophy. In addition, we present the Oberto trophy to a regular 3D solver in commemoration of a loyal and long-standing solver of the 3D community.
Twenty of us attended the lunch held at the Miller and Carter Oracle restaurant in Reading. Bozzy tries to organise the lunch at a venue near the home of the World Champion, which on this occasion was Rachel Sheldon, who lives in the area.
I sense some of you smiling at the grandiose title: 3D Crossword World Champion, as indeed do we in the 3D team. We all recognise the irony but factually it is accurate and harmless in the grand scheme of things. The RPM trophy commemorates Ray Parry-Morris, a celebrated 3D grid constructor who graced our calendars (as '45') with some awesome puzzles for many years. I use the epithet advisedly and recommend a visit to the crossword archives on the website if you fancy an historical treat. The truth is that the regular solvers who design their grids for entry into these two annual competitions provide the great majority of the grids included in subsequent years' calendars. So to celebrate their achievements at our annual lunch helps cement the bonds of the 3D community and future calendar publications.
As is traditional, Le President Sirius (aka Eric Westbrook, the founder of the whole 3D enterprise) presented the trophies in his own inimitable way. Jolt (Jos) has put together a photo gallery of the event with photos taken by Nora and Suzanne Farquhar.
